Magistrate Robert Webster to hand down decision in criminal hearing against Taz-Zorb owner Rosemary Gamble
More than three years after the Hillcrest tragedy and a 10-day criminal hearing, victims’ families will find out whether the jumping castle operator is criminally responsible.
Tasmania
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Magistrate Robert Webster will reveal on Monday whether he believes the owner-operator of a jumping castle breached workplace health and safety duties during the Hillcrest tragedy.
Taz-Zorb owner Rosemary Gamble has pleaded not guilty to one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty category 2.
The charges relate to an incident at Hillcrest Primary School in Devonport on December 16, 2021.
On that day, a jumping castle operated by Ms Gamble became airborne – rising 10m before children fell from the amusement device.
As a result of the incident, six children died.
In November, a ten-day hearing occurred at the Devonport Magistrates Court where Ms Gamble defended the charges against her.
During the hearing, mechanical engineers, Taz-Zorb employees, the company that made the jumping castle, and other experts gave evidence.
The families of the six children who died in the tragedy have piled into the court each day to listen to the proceedings.
Ms Gamble also attended court daily — often alongside her partner of 14 years, Robert Monte.
Mr Monte gave evidence earlier during the hearing when he worked for Taz-Zorb on the day of the tragedy.
While on the witness stand, he described when the jumping castle became airborne.
“I looked up, and the castle was in the air. It went straight up; it swirled as it went,” Mr Monte said.
“I just ran. I ran after the castle. Halfway across the field, I got knocked down by the Zorb ball arena barrier.
“It came down and hit me, then landed in a tree behind. I went down to try and help the kids.”
During the hearing, University of Tasmania climate science lecturer Nicholas Earl-Jones told the court he was “absolutely certain” that a “dust devil” was responsible for a jumping castle becoming airborne at Hillcrest Primary School in December 2021.
He described it as a “tornado-like” weather event that was hard to predict.
During the second week of the hearing, Mechanical engineer Roderick McDonald provided a report on the jumping castle and its pegs.
“The crux of the findings were the castle was not compliant to – in fact, all of the device were not compliant to – the Australian standards,” Mr McDonald said.
“The operations were not compliant to Australian standards, and the systems that were in place were not compliant with – so things like the choice of the anchorage system was not the one to the manufacturer’s instruction and not what would be the standard.”
During the hearing, Ms Gamble’s defence lawyers alleged that if 20 pegs had held down the jumping castle, the outcome would not have changed.
If Magistrate Webster finds Ms Gamble guilty, he will likely outline her punishment at a later date.
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